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More Orioles Rumors

By battlekow

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The Orioles, along with another mystery team (the Padres?), met with Doug Melvin today regarding Geoff Jenkins & Kevin Mench:

Melvin said that the interest from other clubs in Jenkins and Mench was split about 50-50...Most of the calls on Mench, who is arbitration-eligible, have come from American League teams, but Melvin said that some National League teams are also in the mix.

In return, the Brewers are seeking pitching, preferably starters. Meanwhile, the Brewers themselves continued Monday mulling Finley and Lofton as options for center field.

"I don't think we're going that road, but we have the right to change our minds later," Melvin said. "If you could put the two of them together, it would be nice. That's the problem; Finley is a good defensive guy, but his offense has gone the other way. Kenny is the other way around -- he fits the mold of a top-of-the-order guy, but he struggles defensively."

It's great that there's a lot of interest in our pariahs, because it will drive up their prices. Personally, I hope Jenkins is traded for exactly a Rodrigo Lopez-type guy and Mench is kept and platooned with Gabe Gross. I still have a good amount of faith in Melvin, faith that is bolstered by that last paragraph. If he signed Steve Finley, I'd become a Twins fan.

I am, of course, troubled that they're even still "mulling" the FA options for their perceived CF hole. Brady Clark is going to be just as good as Kenny Lofton and blow the doors off Steve Finley, and that's before even considering the 800 lb. pink Bill Hall in the room.

Despite the fact that the Red Sox are interested in Derrick Turnbow, Melvin is "not motivated" to trade him, nor can he apparently fathom getting off the couch to move Damian Miller:

Miller told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel after the trade that he would be surprised if the team kept a $2.25 million backup catcher. But that seems to be exactly Melvin's plan.
Miller will be a fantastic backup catcher and $2.25M won't make or break the team (Cot's Baseball Contracts lists him at $2.75M, but that is apparently incorrect; MLB4U jibes with the mlb.com article).

Update [2006-12-5 13:46:18 by battlekow]: The Journal Sentinel article on the trade talks casts a Mench trade as a fait accompli:

the Brewers no longer have plans for [Mench] with infielder Bill Hall shifting to the outfield.

...

The Phillies might be willing to part with veteran right-hander Jon Lieber in a deal involving Mench. Lieber, 36, who is signed next season for $7 million, went 9-11 with a 4.93 ERA in 27 starts for Philadelphia last season.

Trading Mench for Lieber doesn't do a whole lot for me. Lieber is two-and-a-half times as expensive as Mench and really doesn't solve a whole lot for the Brewers, as he's old and was pretty legitimately bad last year. Keep Mench and platoon him, Doug!

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